No bad blood in Brazil as Cavaliers defeat Heat

LeBron James scored seven points while playing only 20 minutes against his former team, and the Cleveland Cavaliers went on to beat the Miami Heat, 122-119, in overtime Saturday in an exhibition game.

Kevin Love, who was acquired by Cleveland a month after James left the Heat to return to Ohio, finished with 25 points in an entertaining game in the beachfront city that will host the 2016 Olympics.

Chris Bosh led Miami with 19 points. The Cavaliers are 2-0 in the preseason and the Heat fell to 0-3.

James shook hands with the Heat starters at the tipoff but made little eye contact. James said in practices in Rio there was no bad blood, which was confirmed by former teammates Dwyane Wade and Bosh.

“He’s on another team,” Bosh said Friday. “I think he’d understand that. I understand that. We’ll have plenty of time to talk in the summer, and that’s how it is now.”

The real tension between the Heat and Cavaliers comes on Dec. 25, when the teams meet for the first time in the regular season.

James struggled in the first half and played little after that, but his new team carried him. He made two of eight shots from the field and three of seven from the free-throw line, though did have eight assists.

According to a report this week by Forbes, James overtook Tiger Woods as the most marketable athlete in the world.

The HSBC Arena, which will be used for gymnastics during the Olympics, had a sold-out crowd of 15,411, with the top ticket advertised at $350 and green and yellow Brazilian flags adding to the color.

“Who knows where this league will be 20, 25 years from now?” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “In the last six years since I’ve been the head coach we’ve been to England, France, China and Rio with tremendous experiences. Whether or not that happens on a regular basis — in the regular season — I don’t know.”

Wade is also a booster of the NBA’s global profile.

“The NBA has done an unbelievable job of growing the game — the players as well — of making this game global,” Wade said. “We all benefit from it.”

It was the Cavaliers’ 32-year-old Brazilian center Anderson Varejao who got the loudest applause, upstaging James when the teams were introduced. Varejao left Brazil at 19 to begin playing abroad.

“I’ve been waiting my entire life for this,” Varejao said from an on-court microphone. “I hope you enjoy it.”

They did.

James missed the first shot of the game, a fall-away jumper from the left wing. Moments later Varejao scored the first points of the game on the Cavaliers’ second trip down the floor. He finished the first quarter with eight points as Cleveland led, 27-21.

Miami trailed by 20 points, but rallied against the Cavaliers’ reserves to tie it at 105 and force overtime. Cleveland stretched the lead to 122-119 on two free throws by Joe Harris with 13 seconds left. Miami’s Shabazz Napier missed two three-point attempts in the final seconds.

The Cavaliers played without point guard Kyrie Irving, who sprained his right ankle before the team left the United States.